In front of the sealed door, Hades turned his head to look at Tis who was wearing protective clothing and nodded.
Hiss—cold air blew out, the tightly closed door opened, and Hades stepped in. Behind him, Blake, wearing the helmet that Hades had made again, followed.
Blake closed the door behind him. They were now in the isolation area, and there was another door leading to the patient area.
A faint, chanting sound came from in front of them, and Blake muttered softly.
"… so much."
Then he knocked on the first door he had closed, signaling the crew to open the second door.
Hades didn't turn his head. He stared at the next door that slowly opened. "More?"
Blake nodded.
"My father, from what I understand, the Immortal Disease is a sporadic outbreak - usually only one or two cases occur in several star regions."
Hades was silent for a moment, "You mean, there is a problem with the power of death, which means that maybe something happened to Mortarion?"
Blake shook his head quickly.
"I don't know, Father, and—"
He stretched out the words, "This is not necessarily an incurable disease. Other diseases may also have similar symptoms."
Hades took a step forward, "We'll find out next."
The door was pushed open with a creak.
Hades opened his eyes wide.
At first glance, it is a long and narrow hall, which can be seen as some kind of religious place. The walls and ceiling are painted black, as dark as the night that is about to fall. Some broken lights stick out from the walls, like treetops at night.
Countless simple beds were placed in the hall and lined up along the walls. In the low temperature, dirty pus coagulated on the worn sheets, and under the thin cloth, a human figure was barely visible.
And facing them, at the very end of the hall, what anyone would immediately notice upon entering was a dark-skinned figure squatting or almost half-kneeling, with a stone-carved cloak hanging down heavily, like a real piece of cloth.
The shadow of the cloak just covers the face of the portrait no matter from which angle you look at it.
The squatting figure extends his hand forward, as if inviting visitors.
In front of his lowered knee, a huge dog was sitting proudly, its head looking straight forward, with a handful of wheat ears in its mouth.
This is...his own...
In front of more than 100 beds...
As if confirming Hades' guess, Blake behind him took a few steps forward and knelt solemnly on one knee towards the statue of Pluto.
"Praise you."
Mingzi's action seemed to have been done thousands of times. Hades turned his head in astonishment and stared at Blake as he stood up.
Realizing Hades' astonishment, Blake explained in a low voice, "I'm sorry, father, I subconsciously..."
Hades waved his hand and made a gesture of silence.
Blake paused, realizing that Hades' focus was not on the church, but on the people lying there.
"Explain this to me later." Hades glanced at the church. His eyes reflected the statue and the candles stacked in the corner that had condensed into tears.
Blake instantly understood what Hades meant, and he felt ashamed of his subconscious action of saluting the statue of Pluto - but this conditioned reflex action was deeply engraved in his instinct.
Hades walked gently to the bed nearest to them and saw a corpse, its half-rotten body frozen in frost.
In order to prevent these people from continuing to rot, Tees filled the chapel with a large amount of liquid nitrogen.
Hades carefully lifted the sheets that were stuck to the body. He was sure that this "person" was still alive. After receiving the stimulation, the person on the bed tried to move.
Blake stepped forward, and the son of Hades looked at the patient in detail, even reaching out and pushing aside some of the coagulated flesh and blood - Hades saw the muscles trying to move.
He was trying to make a sound or to be aware of what was making a sound, but his senses and vocal cords were so damaged that he could only slowly try to control his limbs, contracting and relaxing his muscles.
Finally, Blake nodded.
"It is an immortal disease, my father."
"Please grant him a peaceful sleep, Hades."
The next moment, the person on the bed stopped his weak struggle.
Hades lowered the quilt, which was just a layer of cloth, over the face of the corpse and walked to the next bed.
…
Hades wants Blake to confirm one by one whether this is the immortality disease.
At the same time, he was also using the black domain perception to try to find some abnormalities.
…
They slowly approached the huge sculpture, and the patients' faint groans disappeared with the sound of footsteps.
Some of them had almost rotted into a pool of mud, with only a skeleton attached to flesh and blood. Some were still intact, but almost all of them had gone crazy. When Hades and his party approached them, they were either muttering to themselves or staring blankly at the ceiling, without any reaction at all.
A few people thanked them weakly, and Blake looked at Hades, who simply nodded before granting them death.
Finally, they came to the bed closest to the statue. Unlike other standard hospital beds, this bed had a blanket with the word Wood sewn on it.
It was Tis's brother, Shor, the only Pluto priest on Aswan. According to Tis, her brother Shor was too kind and pious - so he took in those patients.
Shor was also the last person to be infected with the disease, and after him, Tis immediately blocked the area.
According to Des, she could hear her brother praying every day and night - but one day, her brother stopped talking.
Blake took a step forward and slowly pulled the blanket away from Shore's face.
A pale face was revealed under the blanket, but the decay was minimal. Shaw's eyes were wide open, looking directly at the two visitors.
"I am here to help you," Hades whispered, "to help you get rid of... your illness."
"Do you have anything to say to your sister Des?"
Hades said, "She does not wish to see you for the time being - but you can communicate via comms."
Shaw's wide eyes rolled around, staring at Hades, Shaw made a coughing sound and shook his head in fear, indicating that he did not wish to communicate with his sister.
"good."
Hades said, and Blake beside him also spoke up.
"In the name of the Son of Hades, believer, the man in front of you is Hades."
"He wishes to ask you some questions."
Shaw made a hoarse sound, and then said hoarsely,
"… Pluto?"
His pupils were out of focus as he stared at the sculpture behind Hades. The statue was reaching out its hand to him coldly and mercilessly.
Shaw forced a smile, "You are Pluto... No..."
"No... You're too late."
Hades held down Blake's hand, which he stretched out to teach Shore a lesson.
"Yes, I am late," Hades said calmly, "I can't be there every time."
Hades remained silent, while Shaw continued to struggle, "Why didn't you bestow your gift? You... I watched them rot... I practiced mercy... Why did you..."
"God is not omnipotent," Hades said. "Nothing in this universe is omnipotent, Shaw."
Hades squatted down and placed Shaw's hand in his own, a futile act of hospice care that would make everyone present feel better.
Hades continued, "I believe that it is not the doctrine that commands you to be kind. You are a kind person. I listened to your sister's cry. You are a kind and responsible person. It is you who chose the Pluto Cult that is consistent with your beliefs, not the Pluto Cult that chose you."
"I accept your accusation, Shore Wood, and I wish to put a quick end to your suffering - but if you tell me the details of this plague, I may be able to prevent the tragedy."
Shaw gasped, and Hades wondered how a man with a stopped heart could continue to breathe, but perhaps his throat needed air to keep his vocal cords from vibrating.
"Okay..." Shaw's weak voice sounded, he tilted his head slightly and stared at Hades, "I finally understand... why Pluto is kind and cruel..."
Shaw smiled in vain.
"I took those people in despite Tis's objections... She had intended to burn them... to ensure the safety of the others on the ship."
He stared at Hades.
"But in the end... at least I saved them, didn't I."
Hades looked him in the eye, "I assure you, they have returned to true death - the most complete death."
This incident seemed to make the priest very happy, and Shaw became a little more energetic.
"I'm glad that I can finally rest in peace," Shaw coughed, his eyes flashing with memories of the past. "When I was a child, I once broke into other people's territory... I once glimpsed the ghosts who were imprisoned and tortured to madness. After that, I realized how merciful true death is. This was the most original motivation for me to join the Hades Cult - I was afraid that death would no longer be death."
Shaw let out a long sigh. "My God..." He said calmly, "Looking back on Shaw Wood's life, except for my harsh criticism and betrayal of you at the end, I have a clear conscience."
"I accept your words,"
Hardy paused and said, "Just curse whatever you want."
He continued, "You saved the lives of the remaining 107 people, so that they didn't have to suffer after death. Even though I know you feel guilty about your sister, I will help Tis later and relieve your conscience."
Hades thought Shaw would have cried by now if his blood hadn't stopped flowing and his tear glands had dried up.
"Pluto..." Shaw said tremblingly, as if he had made a great determination, "During the time when I betrayed you, I tried to seek the help of the God of Death. I glimpsed some painful scenes on the boundary between life and death. He was trapped, and He needed faith."
"He is losing death..."
Shaw coughed. "I have read the information about the Undead Disease in the Hades Cult. My Lord, there has never been such an Undead Disease that broke out like an epidemic. Undeadness is gradually becoming contagious. You need to help your friend, the God of Death."
Hades nodded, "I will."
Shaw was silent for a moment.
"Then I have nothing to tell you. Please let me sleep, Hades... I have suffered too much."
Hades blinked.
"Do you need to have one last word with your sister? She's been feeling the pain of abandoning you."
"Thank you. Please tell her..." Shaw slowly closed his eyes, "She did a good job. That's why she is the heir of the Wood family, not her overly weak brother. I am proud of her."
"Humanity will be proud of you too."
Hades said, and the next moment, the underworld water surged up.
Shaw was silent, and Hades put the blanket over the priest's face.
Hades stood up, "Perhaps I should let this brother and sister meet."
Blake shook his head. "This will only make the living regretful. Your decision is correct, father."
Hades sighed, "I didn't expect the first time I met my mortal followers... would be like this."
He still remembered the headache he had when he debated with those two crazy believers.
Hades thought about it and put aside the previous picture. He raised his head and looked at his sculpture carefully.
“Why this posture?”
Hades suddenly asked, and Blake spoke up, "Because the Golden Sage won—no, because the Pluto Cult has always believed that this can demonstrate your kindness, and that it can allow those believers with high understanding to infer that you are a human being."
Hades stared at the outstretched hand of the sculpture, as if interacting with a worshipper who came to worship.
Maybe he understood a little.
Blake continued, "The Cerberus under your sculpture is the hound of the three-headed dog, representing the mortal branch. The other two are the Mechanicus facing left with a wrench in its mouth, and the Legion facing right with a sickle in its mouth."
Hades nodded, walked around his sculpture, then turned his back to the sculpture and looked at the beds where the bodies were placed.
"Blake."
Hades suddenly said.
Before Blake realized what was happening, the next moment, a familiar feeling of suffocation enveloped him, and he instantly realized that Hades had summoned his domain again to eliminate the blasphemous atmosphere in this church.
In a trance, Blake seemed to hear the crying and screaming of the navigator in the cabin in the distance.
Three seconds later, Blake's steps were slightly shaky, and he stood there in a trance.
"alright,"
Hades said, turning on the communication, "Ms. Tis, everyone here has gone to sleep. I believe you have seen everything through the surveillance?"
Tis's unstable breath came.
"Yes—thank you, my Lord."
She sobbed slightly, "Thank you for helping my brother."
"It is of no account," said Hades. "My lady, your brother is proud of you."
Hades repeated Shore's words and gave Tis a minute of buffer time.
During this time, Hades wandered in this narrow and simple chapel, looking at its dark walls with dried blood.
"What are you going to do next, ma'am?"
Hades said casually, "On the level of the warp, I can assure you that this place is completely safe - but I may know what you mean. Next, you can burn this place, and I suggest you do so. Let everything burn to ashes."
Tis immediately agreed with Hades' words, and after a while, the pipe that continuously discharged liquid nitrogen began to discharge giant element.
When enough fuel was piled up, Hades snapped his fingers, an arc of electricity rose up, and then - the fire quickly lit up the church and engulfed the silent beds.
After taking a glance at his own sculpture in the raging flames, Hades turned around and left with Blake.
Mortarion... trapped... This is indeed consistent with the warp projection that Hades felt. It is not just that [Death] has disappeared, [Death] is being infected by other powers, most likely on the side of Nurgle.
This is not a good thing.
Hades thought silently, but he raised his hand and stared at his palm.
Almost the next moment, an idea popped into Hades' mind -
He absolutely cannot enter the subspace now.
Almost at the moment this thought came to his mind, Hades felt the exclusion and screams from the subspace.
So how would he leave this star region - and how would he rescue Mortarion who was trapped in the Warp
(End of this chapter)